Navajo Nation water delivery. Truck from St. Bonaventure Indian Mission delivering water to Navajo families in Thoreau, New Mexico, USA. One-third of the Navajo Nation's families lack a clean water supply, in part because they live in the desert, but in some places because past uranium mining has contaminated the ground water. Relying on trucked-in water, these families use an average of 7-10 gallons a day, compared to 400 gallons for the typical American family of four.